A Better Man
by nakagawa
Summary: After a final confrontation with Rick, Shane narrowly escapes death when a horde of walkers reach Hershel's farm, which separates him from the group. Stranded, he makes the best out of his situation by staying in Hershel's abandoned house. While staying there, a girl named Annie breaks in to steal supplies and when the two meet, their lives are forever changed.
1. Surviving

" _Put this all behind us,_ " Rick tries to assure Shane as he moves closer to him.

Mentally disarmed, Rick takes the opportunity to overpower Shane, so he punches him in the stomach, which knocks the wind out of his lungs. He head-butts Shane in the face, further injuring his nose, and that causes him to fire his gun as Rick pulls it out of his grip.

Off in the distance, somewhere not too far from the farm, a herd of walkers hears the shot and then one by one, they start to wander to the open field.

Rick aims the gun and he points it at his once-friend, who's lying on the ground with his hand over his nose. His hand shakes as he contemplates on whether or not he should pull the trigger.

" _Dad?_ "

Rick turns to see Carl staring at him with an expression of shock and disbelief on his face.

" _Carl,_ " Rick lowers the gun and he tucks it into his belt. " _It's not what it looks like._ "

His son takes a few steps away from him, and Shane, dizzy from the blows, manages to focus his vision on the wobbling figures that are slowly approaching the three of them from the other side.

" _Rick,_ " he tries to warn him.

Carl takes another step back and fearing that Shane has regained his strength, Rick turns to fire the gun. The bullet grazes Shane on the side of his thigh and he collapses on his knees.

Given what almost happened and what's happening now, Rick runs to Carl and he grabs him by his shirt, urging him to run back to the farmhouse with him.

" _What about Shane?!_ "

The walkers are coming closer and closer, and realizing this, Shane forces himself to his feet, and he looks at Rick and Carl.

The two men look at each other; the boy that they both love notices this.

" _I'm sorry, Rick. I'm…_ " Shane clenches his jaw and then he quickly limps away before the walkers reach him. Rick waits until he watches Shane vanish into the woods for his own peace of mind and then he runs back to the farmhouse with his son to warn Hershel and the others from the oncoming herd.

Shane limps through the woods with one hand on his thigh and he glances around him, making sure to avoid any and all walkers.

His body aches and he doesn't know how far he'll be able to get before his body gives out on him, but he continues to limp his way through the trees without stopping. He knows that he can't afford to look back.

A few more minutes into the woods, he pauses when he hears gunfire in the distance and he sees what looks like a fire.

" _Lori. Carl,_ " he mindlessly gravitates towards the sound and he stumbles over a fallen tree. He lands on his side and his body tenses in pain, " _Shit!_ "

Shane touches his leg and he looks over to see that a group of walkers is heading his way, but he's unsure if they see him. Most of them have fallen away because they were drawn to the fire. Shane grits his teeth and he slowly gets to his feet to stand and face the walkers.

If this is how he dies, then so be it.

There's nowhere to run, nowhere to…

He looks up at the thick branches of the tree and he stands on the trunk to reach the lowest branch. It's too weak to hold all of his weight, so he braces the side of his boot against the jagged trunk to lessen his weight and then he uses his good leg to hoist him to safety.

With much effort, he climbs to the thicker branches and he straddles a bunch of them, assured that they will be able to hold his weight. Through the patches of the woods, he can only watch as the barn continues to burn and the shooting refuses to end. Unable to help the ones he loves and wounded, Shane gives into exhaustion and he falls asleep in the tree.

Morning comes and the sunlight pierces the white smoke that the burning barn is leaving behind. Bits of burnt and broken wood collapse on each other, and charred bodies are scattered around the fallen structure. Shane slowly opens his eyes and he leans up from the branch he was resting his chest against. He touches his thigh, noticing that it has stopped bleeding.

The wound looked much worse several hours ago, but all hell had broken loose. Everything looked worse. He looks around to see that no one and nothing is there that he needs to watch out for, and when he's satisfied, he carefully descends the tree.

He needs to start searching.

Water. Medical supplies. Food. Survivors.

But what the hell would he tell them? That he lured his best friend out into the field to kill him?

He should be dead right now.

But he's not.

Shane slips a knife from his belt and he weakly grips it in his hand as he makes his way to the farmhouse. There are about a dozen walkers staggering around in the front yard and there are probably more behind the farmhouse and some inside of it. He'll have to distract them somehow because he's too weak to fight all of them.

When Shane walks through the gate, he stabs a walker in the head and it collapses on the ground. Felling dizzy, he braces his hands on his knees and he gives himself a moment to breathe. As he stares at the dry grass, he watches the rotting blood from the walker flow towards him.

Then he remembers what he heard Glenn say when they were back at the campsite, how him and Rick smeared guts on themselves to walk through the herd. It worked for them, so it should work for him. Carefully lowering himself down on his knees, he forces the shirt off the walker and he puts it on. The long sleeves expand to accompany his large arms, and he uses his knife to smear some of the blood and guts on his clothes.

He begins to rub some on his pants when he notices a shadow on his left. Shane slightly turns his head to see a walker standing behind him and he remains still. The walker leans a little closer, lingers, and it starts to wander away from him.

Son of a bitch, it does work.

Covered in blood, Shane rises to his feet and he begins to make his way to the farmhouse.

Water. Medical supplies. Food. Survivors.

Shane manages to make it into the farmhouse and he keeps the front door open, hoping that more walkers will leave the home rather than enter it. He opens the fridge to grab a bottle of water, which he tucks under his arm and he opens the top cabinet for a can of kidney beans, a can opener and he finds one of Hershel's medical kits.

He limps into the guest bathroom and he closes the door behind him to keep the walkers out. Finally, he removes his clothes and he sits on the toilet.

Shane drinks almost the entire bottle of water and he pours some over his wounded leg. He clenches his jaw as he reaches into the medical kit. He begins to clean the area with hydrogen peroxide and then he rubs some disinfectant gel around the area where the bullet bit him.

After sterilizing and threading a needle, he starts to stitch himself up.

Once Shane finishes, he leaves the wound exposed to dry. He grabs the can opener and he uses it to open the can of kidney beans.

It reminds him of his early days on the force with Rick. He'd eat about two cans of beans a day to keep his level of protein up and since he was often with Rick, many of their conversations would be interrupted by an unpleasant sound or two.

Shane softly laughs, but his smile quickly fades when he hears a groan on the other side of the door. He looks at the floor to watch a shadow walk down the hallway, pass the door, and he thinks about what happened last night.

He just hopes that Lori and Carl made it out alive.

Shane finishes the can of beans and the ache in his stomach is gone, some of the softness returns to his lips from drinking the water. He sharply inhales and when it's accompanied with pain, he squints his eyes and he slowly stands to look at himself in the mirror.

He looks at his slightly crooked nose, his reflection.

Shane bows his head, trying to clear his mind and remember the details of a story that he once heard in the locker room. He was changing out of his uniform when he heard two officers talk about wrestling. One of them mentioned a broken nose and how the wrestler fixed it. The other officer didn't believe him, so he went into specifics about it.

Still unsure, Shane proceeds to feel his nose with his fingertips to find the area that's crooked. It doesn't hurt to touch, so that means that the bone isn't broken. It's just been knocked the wrong way. He presses his fingertips against the topside of his nose and the bottom side of his nose and then he takes a few deep breaths.

In one, quick motion, Shane presses his fingertips against his nose and he sets his nose straight. He covers his mouth to muffle his sound of pain and then he slowly breaths in and out.

It's fixed.

Shane raises his eyes to look at his reflection again and he turns the faucet on to wash his face. He needs to clear the house before he locks everything up and he can allow himself to take a shower. He needs to clear so many things.

After he washes his face and shoulders, he wipes himself dry with one of the towels. He opens the medicine cabinet and he shakes two pills into his hand for the pain. Swallowing them dry, he picks up his knife and he quietly opens the door.

He whistles, calling walkers to him.

After dispatching some of them through the slit of the door, he wipes his knife off and he wraps a towel around his waist before he steps out. He doesn't really see the need to be modest anymore, but he'd rather the walkers bite his arms and legs first, instead of his…

Shane shakes his head at the thought and he roams through the house to clear all of the rooms. Once he secures the home, he begins the process of dragging the bodies outside onto the lawn and he now has the strength to finish off the remaining walkers that are lingering on the property. Content that the farm has been reclaimed, he makes sure all of the doors and windows are locked and secure before he settles into Hershel's bedroom upstairs.

Lying back on the bed, Shane stares at the dresser that's blocking the door. He bites the tip of his tongue, wondering whether or not he should sleep. He wonders where Carl and Lori are and if they're alive, he wonders what would have happened if he did pull the trigger, he wonders where he'd be if Rick didn't come back.

He'd be keeping Carl and Lori safe, he believes.

Like a wounded animal, Shane rolls on his side and he faces his back towards the door. He watches the curtains billow in the wind and then he closes his eyes before sunset.

It's day two on the farm, and Shane is downstairs in the kitchen, taking inventory of the food he has left. There's a lot, even some meat in the freezer and some fresh vegetables. He almost had a breakdown when he realized this and he punched himself in the chest to man-up, knowing how stupid it is to be happy to have such things. He **hates** what this world has done to him, done to everyone. Before the world went to shit, he had a best friend, he had a job, he had a secret crush and his hands were as dirty as most people, but no.

Not anymore.

Otis. Randall. A few nameless people he had to kill to keep Carl and Lori safe before Rick returned…

Shane finds himself standing near Otis and Dale's graves and he rubs the back of his head, trying to find the right words to say.

" _You were right about me, Dale,_ " he begins.

" _You 'member what you said to me? You said that you knew what kind of man I was, and I was pissed at you because you really did._ "

Shane listens to the birds' chirp in the trees in front of him and a breeze softly blows against his face. It makes his skin tingle, his eyes sting.

" _Son of a bitch, you were like my voice of reason and I hated you for that because every time I did something wrong, all you had to do was look at me, and I'd know. You didn't even have to say anything. See, in this world, the world that you said I was built for? You just do or die, and I had to do what I had to do, or I was going to die. And I didn't want to._ "

Shane lowers his head as he feels his chest tighten.

" _You deserve to be dead, Dale, not because I hated you. I don't. It's because you deserve the peace that comes with death._ "

Shane touches his leg and he winces as he turns his attention to Otis's grave.

" _I'm sorry, Otis. I'm sorry that our options were limited, but I didn't want Carl to die._ "

He shakes his head, unable to get the image of that night out of his head. Shane has a flashback of when he was the only one to return to the farm and how he had to explain to Rick what happened. He lied. He remembers walking into the house to see Patricia collapse after learning that her husband died.

" _If… If I had stayed to help you, then all three of us would have died,_ " he pauses and he looks up at the sky, knowing that what he's saying doesn't sound much like an apology, but it's the best that he can do. " _Your life wasn't mine to sacrifice and I forced you into it by leaving you there, man. I'm… I'm so sorry._ "

Feeling overwhelmed, burdened by pain and guilt, Shane looks at the two graves. One of them doesn't even have a body in it.

" _You two were better men than I'll ever be._ "

He turns to walk back to the farmhouse, muttering one last thing.

" _Now you can be better angels._ "

About a week goes by, and Shane has done some much needed repairs to the bottom floor of the house and he's been taking time to rest his leg. On a Tuesday afternoon, he's lying on the couch in the living room and he's playing catch with a baseball that he found in Hershel's drawer upstairs. It's tossed up and it lands in the palm of his callous hand and then it's tossed up again and then it's caught again. After a while, he places the ball on the table and he laces his fingers together on top of his stomach. He watches the sunlight shine through the boards that are covering the window and he tries to relax his mind before he closes his eyes.

Shane falls asleep.

Hours later, he awakes to a cabinet in the kitchen creaking open. He remains still on the couch and he listens for a sound that follows. Slowly, he gets off the couch and he grabs the baseball bat off the table. He found that in Hershel's closet right after he found the baseball in his dresser. Shane makes his way towards the kitchen and then he looks around the corner to see whom it is.

Grabbing his bat, he knew that it wouldn't be a walker. One of those things wouldn't be able to pry two boards off the window and wiggle into the kitchen quietly.

Carefully, Shane inches into the kitchen and he reaches over to place his hand on the light-switch. He focuses his eyes on the shadow crouched in the corner and then he turns the lights on. A young girl with matted hair is staring at him with a can of fruit cocktail in her hand, backpack in the other. When she sees Shane, her green eyes widen and she drops the can on the floor and then she scrambles to the window to escape. He immediately drops the bat and he rushes to her to stop her from getting out.

" _Hold on there, miss!_ "

He wraps his arm around her waist and he clutches her ankle, pulling her away from the counter.

" _No! Let me go, asshole! I have to get back and wait for my mom,_ " she beats at his forearm and squirms in his grip, but Shane carries her away with ease.

He takes her into the bathroom, which is a small room with no window for her to jump for, and he closes the door behind him before the female is released.

When Shane does release her, she turns around and she slaps him in the face. That makes him clench his jaw and he forces her to sit down on the closed toilet. She folds her arms, lowering her head to look at the floor.

" _Look, you come into my house and you steal my food and then you have the nerve to slap me in the face. What is wrong with you, girl? Huh?_ "

Shane rubs the back of his head and he leans against the door, waiting for an answer, but she doesn't speak. He sighs, looking her over.

She looks like she's about 16 years old, maybe 17 years old.

" _I ain't mad about the food. If you knocked on my door and told me that you were hungry, I would have given you food and brought you back to your momma,_ " he's about to say more, but she finally speaks.

" _Yeah, right,_ " the young girl wipes her nose and she looks at the dirt underneath her fingernails, still not meeting his eyes.

Shane stares at her, and he takes a cloth off the shelf and he turns the faucet on to drench it with water. He wrings the cloth semi-dry, leaving it damp enough, and he crouches down in front of the girl. He reaches out for her hand she tries to pull it away.

When she relaxes, Shane starts to wipe her hands and he shakes his head.

" _You got some attitude, girl. If I didn't know any better, you escaped from juvie._ "

" _Maybe I did._ "

Shane chuckles and he smirks, turning her forearm over to clean the other side. When he does, he notices scars on her arm. She immediately pulls her arm away, folding it against her chest again.

" _You can't keep me here. I took a can because I was hungry and I was looking for food to bring back to my mom. She told me to stay in the truck, but I hear those things and I got…_ " she doesn't want to say that she was afraid, so she doesn't. She shakes her head. " _I need to get back to her. She's going to think that something happened to me if I'm not back soon! She won't know where to find me!_ "

She stands up and Shane stands, too. She opens the door and she walks back to the kitchen to leave the way that she came.

" _Listen, I can't let you go back out there alone._ "

" _You're not my father._ "

She climbs on top of the counter and then she sticks her head out to leave the house.

Suddenly, a walker grabs her by her hand and she starts to scream. Shane acts quickly. He grabs a knife out of the block and he leans over, stabbing the walker in the head. It falls on the porch and the girl stumbles back and into his arms.

The knife clatters on the floor and then Shane slides one of the chairs away from the table to let her sit down on it.

" _Alright, you need to get back to your momma, I get that. But you don't know how many of those things are out there and it ain't safe to travel during night. It's not safe to travel during the day, either, but at least you got light then. You can actually see those things,_ " Shane looks at her and she's staring at the window with her knees hugged against her chest.

" _I'll make you a deal. If you stay here until morning and you let me go with you, I'll give you six cans of food, a medical kit and a few bottles of water for you and your momma. How's that sound?_ "

Slightly tamed by the close call, the young girl presses her chin against her left knee, still thinking it over. She doesn't know this man. Not too long ago, she was only a thief to him, so why is he offering her help? He just saved her life, too.

" _You drive a hard bargain, miss. I'll tell you what, two young girls used to live here and their bedrooms are upstairs. If you stay until morning, you can take a shower and get cleaned up, and you can take whatever clothes you want from them. Pot can't get any sweeter than that, so that's my final offer._ "

She looks at him with her emerald eyes, and Shane smiles.

" _Fine, but I'm taking this knife with me upstairs and I'm keeping it with me when I'm in the shower, too,_ " she quickly reaches down to grab the knife off the floor and Shane raises his hands, backing away from her.

" _I'm not a pedophile, little girl. I used to be the Sheriff Deputy in King County, Georgia. I used to lock women and men like that up._ "

She narrows her eyes at him, still suspicious.

" _Quick, what was your partner's name?_ "

Shane falters when he's asked that question, and he lowers his hands. He looks more than a little uncomfortable and while he knows why, she doesn't.

" _Yeah, nice try._ "

She moves closer to the hallway, still facing him, and Shane squeezes the bridge of his nose.

" _His name was Rick Grimes. He wasn't just my partner; he was my best friend. Him and a group of other people, including the family of this farm, left here about a week ago. The place was overrun by walkers and I was away from them, so I couldn't leave,_ " he looks at her, hoping that she believes him.

Shane hasn't been an honest man for a long time, but he's being honest now.

The girl slowly lowers the knife and she sighs.

" _Okay, I believe you. And do you have a name, or should I just call you 'guy' or something?_ "

" _Shane. My name is Shane Walsh. What's yours?_ "

She taps her fingernail against the blade of the knife and it makes a clicking sound.

" _I'll tell you when I'm done getting cleaned up, Shane. Thanks for the hospitality._ "

The girl turns to head upstairs to the bedroom and Shane stares at the empty doorway, still amazed by her attitude. After he shuts and secures the window, he turns the light off in the kitchen and he sits in the dark. He raises his head to look at the ceiling when he hears the girl opening the closet door. He recognizes its squeak.

Shane rubs the back of his head, sighing at what his night had become. A few hours ago, he was alone and now there's a young girl in the farmhouse with him. All he can hope is that when he meets the girl's mother, she'll be the friendly one. Then again, hoping for anything these days is just plain stupid.


	2. Searching

Shane makes sure to listen to the girl as she moves around the upper floor with her backpack, and he listens to the shower turn on after she closes and locks the bathroom door. He waits in the living room for an hour before the shower turns off, and the bathroom door opens again. Steam drifts into the hallway, the light turns off, and the girl steps out with a towel wrapped around her head. She's wearing one of Beth's white tank tops and a long-sleeve flannel shirt and dark blue jeans. She pauses when she looks at Shane, but then she moves to sit on the chair near the window. The girl unravels the towel from her head and a stream of curly red hair falls pass her shoulders. She leans over to dry her locks with the towel.

" _Why didn't you leave with the group that was here? Were you hurt or something?_ " she asks as she continues to towel-dry her hair.

" _Yeah, I was hurt. I'm still recovering._ "

Shane rubs his palms together to warm his hands, and he looks at the girl, noticing how different she looks now that she's clean. He remembers when he used to do his police training and he had to go through the obstacle course. He didn't look too pretty after a few runs, either.

" _How did you get hurt?_ "

She whips her head back and she wraps the towel around her shoulders to make sure that her hair doesn't make her clothes wet. She rocks back and forth on the chair, watching him.

Shane lies again.

" _The walkers were coming and Rick got scared, so he accidentally shot me. He grazed my thigh and he couldn't carry me, so I got left behind._ "

The girl scoffs, shaking her head.

" _And you called this man your best friend? I wouldn't leave my best friend behind._ "

" _Yeah, well, people do stupid things when they're afraid._ "

That comment is more about him than it is about Rick.

" _Since you're coming with me tomorrow, are we going to leave early?_ " she stops rocking in her chair and she pulls out a bottle of fingernail polish from her pocket. She slides the rocking chair a little to the left to the moonlight shine on the table.

She places her foot on the edge of the table and she starts to paint her toenails.

" _We can leave as early as six o'clock,_ " Shane stares at her. " _Are you actually painting your toenails?_ "

" _Well, I'm certainly not planting seeds, Farmer Shane,_ " she retorts.

" _I see that shower washed away the dirt and sweat, but it didn't wash away that attitude of yours,_ " and Shane fires back at her.

The girl gives him the dirtiest look and then she continues to paint her toenails.

The two of them sit in silence for several minutes and Shane rises from the couch, stretching.

" _I usually sleep on the couch, but tonight, I'm gonna be sleeping in the bedroom with you. And before you get the wrong idea because you think I'm some pedophile, I'll sleep in the chair while you sleep in the bed. I don't trust you to wander the house while I'm asleep._ "

She begins to paint her other set of toenails, concentrating on the task at hand.

" _In that case, you're going to have to wait 10 minutes until my toenails dry and then we get head upstairs to sleep._ "

Slightly annoyed, Shane sits back down on the couch and he looks at the magazines on the table with distaste. He begins to strum his fingers on the armrest.

" _Where were you and your mother headed before you two got separated?_ "

" _We were heading to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention in Georgia, but I told her that it was a bullshit plan._ "

" _Hey, watch your mouth,_ " he scolds her.

" _Or what, you're going to ground me? You're not my father, Shane. My father was some asshole that decided to bang our neighbor, and he decided to divorce my mom and leave us when I was twelve years old. I don't want another father in my life._ "

Shane shifts in his seat, more than a little irritated by her attitude at this point. Instead of responding, he goes quiet and he tries to calm himself down before he speaks again.

" _I was at the CDC with the group before we came here to the farm,_ " he nips at his finger as he stares into the empty hearth. " _It's gone._ "

The girl finishes painting her toenails and she closes the fingernail polish before she grabs a magazine off the pile and then she starts to fan her feet.

" _I knew my mother should have listened to me. I told her it was a stupid idea, but she still wanted to go. I wanted to go the other way,_ " she sounds annoyed, but she looks at the boarded up window to her left. She thinks about her mother, who's out there in the dark, lost somewhere.

" _She must be sleeping in a car or hiding out in a house somewhere,_ " Shane guesses at what she's thinking, so he tries to comfort her. " _If your mother is like you in any way, I'm sure she can take care of herself._ "

" _Then you obviously don't know my mother. She'd probably ask you how many shotgun shells go into a pistol._ "

The girl places her foot back on the table and she softly touches her big toenail. The coating doesn't move and her fingers remain dry.

" _Okay, we can go upstairs now._ "

She tosses the magazine back onto the pile and she walks pass Shane and then she heads down the hallway to head upstairs again. He follows her a few steps behind.

Once they're inside of Hershel's bedroom, he closes the door and he pushes the horizontal dresser in front of it. The girl, a little on edge, takes a few steps away from him and she stands near the window. Shane turns to look at her and he moves to sit down on the chair on the other side of the room.

" _It's been a long day for me and I'm sure it's been a long day for you. I just wanna sleep. Don't you?_ "

She looks at him and then she moves to pull the sheets back on the bed. She hugs a pillow to her chest before lying down on her side, her back facing away from him.

Shane leans over to open the middle drawer of the vertical dresser to take out a gun. He gets up from the chair and he walks over to her, holding it out for her to take.

" _Here, take it. It's obvious that you still don't trust me, so you can tuck this gun underneath your pillow and sleep with it,_ " he reveals the clip to show her that it has rounds in it and that it's ready to fire. " _At this point, you could kill me and take all of my supplies, but I'm trusting you not to do that, so here._ "

She hesitantly takes the gun and she looks at it.

By the time she looks up again, Shane is covering himself with a blanket and he's trying to get comfortable on the chair.

" _Annie,_ " she murmurs.

" _What?_ " Shane pauses and he turns his head to look over his shoulder.

" _You wanted to know my name. My name is Annie._ "

He slowly nods and then he rests his head down.

" _Nice to meet you, Annie. Sweet dreams._ "

Hours later, Shane stirs in his chair and he stretches his leg out to touch the floor. He yawns and his eyes water before he opens them. When he looks at the bed, he notices that Annie is out of it and the dresser is pushed away from the door enough for her to have slipped out into the hallway.

Shane flips the blanket off of him and he heads out of the bedroom to run downstairs.

When he runs into the kitchen, he pauses in the doorway when he sees Annie sitting at the table, eating some toast.

She stares at him, unblinking.

" _Oh, you thought I left,_ " she wipes the crumbs off her mouth and then she nods her head at the other plate with two pieces of toast on it. " _I hope you don't mind that I 'made' some breakfast. I was hungry and I'm pretty sure we wouldn't get far without some food in us._ "

Shane sighs, leaning against the doorframe.

" _Are you sure your momma didn't try to lose you on purpose?_ "

He softly laughs and then he enters the kitchen to join her at the table.

A few bites into his toast, he gets up from the table and he starts gathering cans of food and water like he promised.

" _Where were you when you last say your momma? Was it far from here?_ "

" _I walked about 5 miles to get here. We were staying at a post office off the main road and she went out to get supplies like usual. She was late, though, and then those things starting knocking on the windows, so I think they must have seen or heard me. They broke through one of the windows, so I had to get out of there. I couldn't wait for my mom because they chased me away from there. I just ran and I ran until I saw a mailbox with the word 'Greene' painted on it._ "

She shrugs her shoulders after explaining and then she scratches her head.

Her sleeve droops down her forearm and Shane notices that she's wearing a bracelet. He remembers seeing it on her wrist.

" _Nice bracelet._ "

Annie glances at her wrist and then she starts helping Shane put the cans of food into another backpack, one of Maggie's old ones.

" _Thanks. I made one for my mom and I when I was in school two years ago. It's stupid, but I'm used to having it on my wrist, so I just keep it there. My mom still wears hers, too._ "

Shane finishes packing the backpack and then he zips it up. He eats the rest of his toast, and he dusts the crumbs off his hands before he offers her a bottle of water. He squints his eyes, moving the board aside to look out the window. There are three walkers in the yard, but only three.

" _The sun is rising. We should head out now. Do you still have the gun?_ "

" _Yes,_ " she holds it up to show him and Shane nods his head.

" _Good, you can use that to protect yourself when we're out there. But don't shoot unless you really have to. Your ammo is limited and the shots will only bring more of them to you, so you better use it wisely._ "

" _Yeah, I think I'll just stick with my hatchet. It's quieter and I'm used to it._ "

Annie tucks the gun behind her and then she unzips her backpack to pull out her hatchet. She shoulders her backpack and Shane shoulders the other one with the supplies.

They head outside to the truck in the back of the house, and Shane places the backpack on the floor near Annie's feet. She shuts and locks the door after she puts her seatbelt on.

She looks out the window at the corpses that roam the front yard, and Shane starts the truck and then he drives away.

About a mile down the road, Shane glances over at Annie.

" _Have you ever played a game called 'I Spy' before?_ "

She tucks an unruly red curl behind her ear, looking at him.

" _No._ "

" _Perfect, alright. I'm gonna teach you how to play that game right now. First, you look around you and then you spot something up ahead. Second, you begin your sentence with, 'I spy' and then you say whatever it is you're looking at and the person has to guess what it is. For example, you see that red van up ahead? I'd say; I spy something red. You'd look in front of you and then you guess a fire hydrant or your hair or you'd say that van. If you guess correctly, you get a point. And we switch back and forth, of course. You get it?_ "

" _We're seriously not going to play this right now, are we?_ " she raises her eyebrow, looking at him.

" _You got a better way to pass time?_ " he raises his eyebrow back at her and then Annie sighs. " _Yeah, I figured. Okay, you go first._ "

She thumps her head against the seat and she turns to the side to watch the streets signs blur pass her. She leans up to look forward and she starts searching for something.

" _I spy something pink._ "

Shane squints his eyes and he leans from left to right, trying to find what she's seeing.

" _I can't see any… That jacket on the side of the road, the one near the flat tire._ "

" _And we have a winner. I guess that means it's your turn now._ "

Annie shakes her head, but there's a small smile on her face.

" _I spy something yellow._ "

Shane leans back and he drives a little slower, giving her a chance to see what he's seeing. He glances at her, wondering if she's going to be able to get it before they pass it.

" _There's, like, nothing yellow._ "

He points to the left and there's a yield sign on the grass in between the two roads. Annie leans over to look at it and then she leans back.

" _You're such a cheater! I couldn't even see it from here._ "

" _Two points for me, no points for you. Your turn._ "

Annie folds her arms and she taps her finger on her bicep, looking at what she has to use in front of her. There's not much, nothing that wouldn't be too obvious or too broad.

Instead, she turns to look at Shane.

" _I spy a cheater._ "

He looks at her, amused.

" _Really now? If that's the case, then I spy a spoiled loser._ "

Annie playfully pushes his arm, but then she looks at the road just in time to warn him.

" _Shane!_ "

He turns his attention back to the road and before he can step on the breaks, the truck rams into a walker and they swerve, breaking through the guardrail on the right. The truck rushes down a hill and into the woods and then they hit a tree.

Everything goes black.

Annie opens her eyes to the sound of a car horn wailing and she touches her wrist, feeling it throb with pain. She clenches her teeth, hugging her hand to her chest.

" _Shane,_ " her voice is tense.

He's unconscious and leaning against the steering wheel, so Annie touches his shoulder and she leans him back. The car horn stops wailing.

" _Shane. Shane! Wake up!_ " she shakes him, but he doesn't open his eyes.

Annie touches his neck to search for his pulse and thankfully; she finds one. He's not bleeding anywhere, surprisingly, so she's the only one that's visibly hurt.

Beside her, a walker starts to bang on her window and it makes her jump. Annie keeps her arm against her chest and then she reaches down to pick up her hatchet. The windows are shattered and there's smoke coming out from under the hood, but nothing smells like it's burning.

How much longer before more walkers find them? She has to get them out of here if she can. If not, she's going to have to wait until Shane wakes up and pray that nothing else heard the horn.

Carefully, she rolls the window down just enough to slide the blade of the hatchet out and then she swipes it at it. The walker lifts its rotting arm off and it knocks the hatchet out of Annie's hand. With the window being partially shattered, it starts to crack under the extra pressure.

The walker presses and presses, and the glass falls away from the door. Annie screams and she leans back, using her feet to keep it away from her.

" _Shane!_ " she presses her back against his arm and with the struggling and the yelling, Shane slowly opens his eyes and then he acts.

He gets out of the car, which makes Annie land on the seat and she keeps kicking at the walker. Shane clumsily runs around to the other side and he pulls the walker away from the door. The corpse lands on the slope of the hill and then Shane crushes its head.

Still spooked and disheveled, Annie slowly leans up to look out the window and she brushes her hair away from her face.

" _Are you okay? Did it bite you? Scratch you?_ "

Shane walks over to her door and he picks the hatchet from the ground. Offering it back to her, Annie wraps her fingers around its handle and she leans back.

" _No… No, it…_ "

Noticing the tone in her voice, Shane touches the back of her hand.

" _Hey, hey, it's okay. It's dead,_ " he smiles, shrugging his shoulders, " _Well, it's deader._ "

Annie softly laughs and then it quickly dies when she sees the bushes rustle in front of the car. She touches the dashboard, tensing up. Shane follows her line of sight, and he removes the knife from his belt. A walker emerges from the bushes and he touches its chest before stabbing it in the head. It falls on the ground and then it rolls down the hill.

" _We need to get out of here, Shane. The car is wrecked and it probably made enough noise to draw walkers to us. We need to find another car to use on the highway and get out of here._ "

Annie opens the door and she jumps out with the backpacks. Shane looks at the hood of the car and he knows that he doesn't have to crouch down to see that the belly of the car is gutted. He can smell gasoline leaking from it, and where there's smoke, there's possibly a fire.

" _You're right. Come on, we best get moving._ "

He takes the backpacks from her hand he slings both of them around his shoulder. Annie and Shane head up the hill to the highway, and he ducks down when he sees three walkers roaming nearby. He holds his finger up to his lips, silently telling Annie to remain quiet. He nods to the blue car on the left and she follows him to it.

" _Start checking to see if any doors are open, search for car keys. If you find one, call me over._ "

" _We're going to separate?_ "

" _You got a faster way for us to find a working car?_ "

Annie looks at him and she takes a deep breath.

" _Fine._ "

Their steps are soft and their breathing is softer. Shane crouches beside a door and he looks underneath the car to watch a walker stagger pass him. He leans back up to try the door, but it's locked. He wipes a bead of sweat away from his eye, and he keeps moving.

About half an hour goes by, and Shane runs over to Annie. She slowly moves to sit down and she thumps her back against a car's tire.

" _I take it you haven't found anything._ "

" _Some cars were unlocked, but I couldn't find any keys. I don't wanna mess with the wires because a car can sputter. It won't be worth it._ "

He sighs, looking in the direction that they came from.

" _We're more than two miles away from the farm. There's a working car there and we should go back for it. I don't want us to be out in the open like this, especially in this kind of heat. These supplies are you for and your momma. It won't be any good if we use it now._ "

Annie looks at the blade of the hatchet and she slightly turns her wrist to let the curve of her weapon catch the sunlight. It glares back at her.

" _Look, I know you wanna get back, but we need to be smart about this. If we return to the farm early enough and there's still light, we can come back tonight. We just need a vehicle that works and more supplies for this trip. Does that sound good to you?_ "

She's about to agree with him, but then she starts running in the opposite direction. She bangs on the top of the cars as she passes them. The walkers, one after the other, begin to turn their dead eyes on the person making the noise.

" _I'll draw them away, while you wire a car!_ "

Shane watches in horror, eyes wide and full of worry. The last thing he wants is to watch her get devoured by those things, but he can't run after her. He has no choice but to do as she says. He swings the car door open and then he sits inside.

He reaches under the steering wheel to snap open the plastic panel and then he glances down to look for the right wires. There are three different colored wires that are stuck together. One is for the lights and cruise control, the other for the wipers and seat warmers, and the last one is for the battery and the ignition.

Knowing very well that messing with the wrong wires will get him electrocuted, he tries to remember what he learned. Most battery wires are red, while the ignition wires are brown. After some careful choosing and manipulation, he's able to get the engine to start. He pounds his fist against the steering wheel and then he begins to maneuver his way around the other cars to get back to Annie.

After pushing a few cars aside with the front and back of his car, he sees Annie standing on top of an overturned school bus. She's surrounded by a dozen walkers and more are headed her way.

" _Annie,_ " he shouts at her as he sticks his arm out the window and waves it.

He steps on the gas and then he proceeds to ram four walkers out of his way. He sticks his head out the window to look up.

" _Jump on the hood of the car and slip into the backseat window, hurry!_ "

She does as she's told and when she's safely inside of the car, she moves to sit in the passenger's seat. The back window closes and then Shane drives away.

Annie, breathing hard from the excitement, looks over at Shane with big eyes. He glances at her with the same wild, adrenaline-fueled gaze, but he doesn't say anything. He's feeling angry and relieved at the same time. He can't talk, so he just drives.

When they return to the farmhouse, it's almost mid-afternoon. Shane gets out of the car and he removes his keys from his pocket to unbolt the lock on the back door to let themselves back inside. Once they step into the cool, dusty-darkness, Shane locks the door again. With one hand on his hip and the other hand over his mouth, he turns to look at Annie.

" _Girl, are you out of your damn mind? I don't care what happens next time, you are not to do that again. You understand me? Because as long as you're away from your momma, that makes you my responsibility._ "

Annie stares at him and then she walks around him to look out through the crack of the kitchen window. She thinks about her mother, rubbing her naked wrist.

" _Maybe I should leave then, try to find my mother by myself. Because I'm not going to stop doing what I want to do because it makes you nervous,_ " she turns around, green eyes twinkling.

" _Don't get lippy with me, you almost got yourself killed three times since I met you! You think that you can survive out there on your own? Think again._ "

" _Whatever, I don't need your charity. And it's no wonder why you were ditch by your best friend,_ " the words are out of her mouth before she can stop them. Shane tenses up, remembering what really happened that night, and he turns away.

Annie turns away as well, knowing that what she said was harsh.

" _I'm sorry, I didn't mean that. I'm just worried about my mom,_ " her voice soft.

" _No, you did mean it,_ " Shane rubs the back of his head. " _It ain't always one or the other._ "

He softly chuckles, showing her that he's alright. But God, does he want to tell her what really happened. Annie is young, but she understands what this world has become. She understands what people have become.

Maybe that's not what matters the most here. What if Shane tells Annie and she finds him untrustworthy? What if she runs away during the night and he finds her roaming the front yard as a walker the next morning? He's been living with so many things already. He wouldn't be able to live with that.

" _I know you ain't eager to waste time, but I think we should make time. If your momma's smart as you, she'd know to stay close to where you were and come back to check every day to see if you've returned. I knew a woman that did the same thing._ "

" _Yeah?_ " Annie thinks about it. " _Did she find her child?_ "

Shane remembers how that turned out, but he nods his head.

" _Yeah, she found her daughter,_ " he answers, even though he doesn't state that she was found dead. That was a horrible day, not only for Carol, but for everyone else, too. They lost Jacqui, Jim and others, but this was a little girl. She was the symbol of innocence and naivety. In this world, if you keep your innocence and naivety, you pay the ultimate price by dying.

Some think it's better to die that way, while others will sacrifice anything to stay alive.

Anything.

" _Being out there in the dark is dangerous, even with flashlights and a working car. I say we stay in tonight, gorge on food, and get to bed early. We can leave even earlier than we did yesterday. How does that sound?_ " he tilts his head with a smile.

Annie puckers her lips, blowing a lock of hair away from her face.

" _I guess that's cool with me. I'm hungry again and my head hurts a little. Do we have medicine around here?_ " she touches the side of her head, wincing.

Shane nods his head and he opens the cabinet to grab a bottle of pills. He places it on the table with a bottle of water and then he walks around, collecting cans of food and spoons.

Once the cans are opened and Shane is seated on the table and the pills have entered Annie's system, she's staring at the jar of peanut butter. Her eyes are distant.

" _I miss my job,_ " Shane breaks the silence. " _It wasn't exciting all the time. Sometimes, Rick and I would just sit in our patrol car for hours, talking about the good old days before we joined the force. We'd eat junk food until our stomachs were sore._ "

" _That sounds like my type of job,_ " Annie smiles as she retrieves her spoon from the jar of peanut butter. " _You're still kind of doing your job. I'm sure someone came to you with a missing person's case. My mom is missing and you're helping me find her._ "

Shane slowly nods his head, realizing that she's right.

" _You're a wise girl, Annie. Real wise._ "

He strums his fingers on the tabletop with a smile on his face and then he abruptly leaves the kitchen. Annie leans over to see where he's going and she can hear his heavy feet heading up the stairs to the second floor. She leans back, stirring the contents of the open can with her spoon.

A few moments later, Shane returns to the kitchen and he thuds a bottle of whiskey down on the tabletop. He sits back down, pulling the bottle closer to him, so that he can open it.

" _Found it on a run a few weeks ago. Thank God nothing happened to it when the place was overrun,_ " he pours the golden liquid into two glasses.

Shane slides one glass over to Annie and he pulls his glass closer to him.

" _You ever try whiskey before? Doubt you have,_ " he swirls the whiskey in his glass and he takes a gulp of it, not even wincing. Annie huffs, annoyed by Shane's assumption, even though he's right. Her mother would never allow her to try it.

" _No, but I heard it's gross,_ " she eyes the glass. " _But I guess I'll try it. I doubt I'll survive long enough to turn twenty-one, so I might as well enjoy myself now._ "

Shane slightly frowns at her pessimism, but he doesn't comment on it because he understands how hard it is to remain hopeful in a world like this.

Annie tips the glass to her lips and she coughs, cringing at the taste.

" _God, that's terrible,_ " she wipes her mouth with the back of her hand and she stares at the glass as if it insulted her. Shane reaches over to grab it, but Annie pulls the glass farther from his reach. " _I said it's terrible. I didn't say that I didn't want to keep drinking it._ "

He laughs, liking her attitude. He raises his glass to her and Annie raises her glass back. They take small sips for the rest of the evening until it's completely dark outside. When Shane glances at the clock, it's 9:47PM.

" _Hey, look, if we're gonna be up early tomorrow, we should hit the hay._ "

" _Oh, come on. Just a little more?_ "

Annie holds up her glasses and Shane hesitates, considering it, but he shakes his head.

" _I think you've had enough for one night. Never thought I'd say that to anyone, but since this is your first time drinking, I don't know how it's gonna hit you tomorrow. You might not be right enough to go out there. You know, unless you could vomit on those things,_ " Shane nods to the hallway. " _Come on, I'll help you upstairs._ "

The kitchen light is turned off and Shane wraps his arm around Annie's side to help her up the stairs. He walks carefully in the dark, making sure neither of them trip on something.

When he pushes the bedroom door open, he helps Annie get on the bed and he pulls the blanket over her to keep her warm. He walks over to the rocking chair, but he doesn't sit on it to get comfortable. He stares at Annie, who's already fast asleep.

Shane places his hand on his belt and he slowly unfastens it. Once it's undone, he pulls the belt from his waist and he walks over to Annie's bedside.

There was a reason he let her drink alcohol tonight.

" _I'm not a bad man, Annie,_ " he whispers before touching the side of her head.

Quietly, he steps out into the hallway and he wraps his bed around the knob and he wraps the other end around the railing to keep the door shut. In case something gets into the house, it won't be able to get to her. The last thing he wants is for her to wander out into the dark hallway and fall down the stairs because she's still drunk.

Shane heads downstairs to grab a flashlight and two knives from the kitchen drawer, knowing that they'll be more effective than using a gun in the middle of the night. After he arms himself, he pulls on a jacket and then he heads outside to the car.


	3. Finding

It takes him awhile to get back to the road, but when he does, he parks off to the side and he takes a few deep breaths before he gets out of the car. He glances around him and then he turns the flashlight on, facing the bright beam to the ground.

Shane is here to find the bracelet that Annie lost.

He knows how important it was to her and he couldn't sneak out of the house unless she's was knocked out. He didn't want to give her sleeping pills because there's a chance that she could have had an allergic reaction to it. Shane also realizes that leaving her alone wasn't the smartest idea, either, but he's under the assumption that this won't take him that long. The bracelet has to be here somewhere. He remembers where she was before she lost it.

Half an hour goes by and three walkers have been killed during that time. He's becoming more nervous being out in the open like this, in the dark, but he's determined to find that bracelet.

Searching slower, he shines the flashlight on empty water bottles, discarded shoes, bullet casings and…

There's a gnawing sound, the sound of a walker eating someone or something's flesh. Shane moves the flashlight up the walker's leg to its head and it turns around with flesh dangling from its mouth. It snarls, slowly turning its body to stand.

Shane almost stumbles back, but he grabs the walker by its arm and he twirls it to the ground. He kneels down on top of it and then he starts bashing it with the flashlight.

The beam of light turns an off-red when the blood from the walker coats the front of the flashlight and when the walker goes limp, Shane gets up to shine the light on what or who it was eating.

The woman softly sobs, her cheek and shoulder and stomach are exposed, bleeding and raw.

" _Please… Help… Please, help me,_ " she reaches out for Shane, and he takes her hand to hold it.

The flashlight shakes in his other hand and with a sickening discovery, he notices a red bracelet around her wrist.

" _Hey, hey. Where did you get this bracelet? Did you… Did you find it?_ "

The woman weakly shakes her head.

" _No… My daughter made…_ " her voice weak. " _My daughter made this… She made this for me._ "

Shane stares at her with wide eyes and he glances over his shoulder when he hears movement in the distance.

" _Hey. Hey! Stay with me, alright? Annie, is your daughter's name Annie?_ "

She slowly tilts her head, trying to lift it.

" _You know her? She's… She's alive?_ " there's relief in her voice.

" _Yeah, yeah. She's staying with me in a farmhouse down the road. She's sleeping in a bed right now, stomach full of food and she's warm. Safe._ "

The woman weakly squeezes his hand.

" _Look, you and I both know that there's no coming back from this, so I'll promise you that I'll do whatever it takes to keep your baby girl safe, alright? I'll keep her safe for as long as I can,_ " Shane knows that she doesn't have much long before she dies. He knows that she won't be dead for very long, either.

" _Thank… Thank you,_ " she murmurs and then she lies still.

Shane continues to hold her hand and he shuts the flashlight off to conceal him in darkness. He slowly leans back against the car behind him and he sinks down to the ground.

Annie's mother was finally found, but he didn't want to find her like this. What is he going to tell her? Shane looks at the bracelet around her wrist and he let's go of her hand to take it off. He stuffs the bracelet in his pocket and then he unsheathes his knife.

" _I'm sorry._ "

After Shane makes sure that Annie's mother doesn't come back, he removes his coat to cover her upper body with it. He carefully lifts her up and he places her on his shoulder.

Knife draw, Shane makes his way back to his car, which is about a mile away.

As he walks, he shines the flashlight on the ground and then he pauses when something red catches his eye. He reaches down to pick it up and when he turns his hand over, he sees that it's Annie's bracelet.

Shane sighs, closing his eyes for a moment.

He continues to walk until he reaches his car again and then he places Annie's mother in the backseat. He gets into his car and he begins to drive back to the farmhouse.

What a terrible night.

A loud banging from upstairs wakes Shane up and he falls off the couch in the living room. The corner of the table catches the side of his head, so he squeezes his eyes shut before he moves to stand up.

" _Shane? Shane, are you out there? Why am I trapped in here?_ " Annie calls out from upstairs.

" _Shit,_ " realizing that he left the belt tied to the door, he runs upstairs to free Annie.

When the belt is untied from the railing, it dangles from the knob when Annie swings the door open. She looks pale and there's a faint smell of vomit coming from somewhere in the room.

Annie blinks her eyes, looking him over.

" _What the hell happened to you? You're covered in blood and you smell horrible,_ " she pinches her nose, cringing at the smell that comes from his clothes.

Shane, collapsing from exhaustion on the couch last night, forgot to change out of his dirty clothes. He takes a step back, rubbing the forming bump on the side of his head.

" _I think we should talk about that over breakfast. There's something that I need to tell you, too. It's important and you should be sitting down for it,_ " he sighs, remembering the reason why he used to hate being a sheriff deputy.

On rare instances, he'd have to visit certain people to tell them that their loved one was dead. He'd have to see them crumble to the floor or act stoic as if what he said didn't get to them yet. The emotionless people were the worst ones.

" _But first, I'm gonna change outta these clothes. Mind getting me some clean clothes? They're in the drawer over there._ "

Shane heads into the bathroom and he leaves the door ajar as he gets undressed.

He paces as Annie goes to collect the clothes. He's given bad news like this to many, many people before, so why should this be any different? Maybe it's because he made a promise to her mother. He's never made that many promises before. In fact, the last promise he made was to…

" _Here, and give me your dirty clothes. I don't want it to stink up the bathroom,_ " Annie holds out a stack of clean clothes and Shane takes it before he gives her his dirty clothes.

Annie walks over to the hamper to drop them in there and she does what many people do before they discard their clothes to be washed. She checks the pockets of his jeans to make sure nothing is in there.

Her fingers brush against something, so she pulls it out.

The jeans fall to the ground, tipping the hamper over, and she stares at the red bracelet in her hand. Annie feels a surge of nauseous hit her stomach and she almost throws up again, but instead, she walks over to the bed and she reaches underneath her pillow to pull out a gun.

She aims it at the door, simply waiting for Shane to emerge.

" _I think you and I need to go clothes shopping, eventually, because what we got to use, it ain't too flattering. I'm sure the dead don't mind, though,_ " he opens the door and steps out with a smile, and the smile slowly falters when he sees Annie pointing the gun at him.

He's about to open his mouth, but Annie answers him by tossing the bracelet on the floor. It slides to his toes and he closes his eyes, leaning his muscular shoulder against the frame.

" _Annie, I can explain._ "

" _I bet you can. You're a former deputy sheriff. I'm sure you've convinced many people to lower their weapons during hostage negotiations before, but I doubt there's anything you can say that will convince me not to shoot you._ "

Shane pushes himself away from the frame and he puts his hands on his hips.

" _Girl, if that were the case, then I'd already have a bullet in me._ "

Annie clicks the hammer down and then her gaze intensifies.

Shane tenses up, knowing better than to tease the bull when it's already eager to charge. He hangs his head, seeing no other way out of this situation other than telling Annie the truth.

" _After you passed out last night, I went back to the road to find your bracelet because I know how much it meant to you. You told me that it reminded you of your relationship with your mother,_ " he sighs, not eager to continue the story. " _Well, I was out there for almost an hour before I stumbled across a walker eating something on the road. I killed it and then I discovered that it wasn't eating something, but someone._ "

Annie falters, slightly lowering the gun.

" _It was your momma, Annie. I'm so goddamn sorry._ "

The gun falls from her hand and she grips the frame of the bed as her knees begin to wobble. Shane comes over to help her move to the chair and she covers her face with her hand.

" _Are you sure… Are you sure it was her?_ " Annie's eyes fill with tears as she looks up at him.

" _Yeah. Yeah, I'm sure. She was still alive when I found her and I saw the bracelet on her wrist. I asked her if you were her daughter and she said that you were._ "

Annie covers her face with her hands again, crying this time.

" _And I made a promise to her, Annie, that I'll do whatever I can to keep you safe, so that's what I'm gonna do,_ " he tucks a lock of her hair behind her ear when she leans up to look at him. " _I didn't wanna tell you like this, but since I had a gun on me, I didn't really have a choice._ "

He softly laughs, trying to lighten the mood and get her mind off the bad news. He manages to get a quick smile from her.

" _Come on, let's get downstairs and get something to eat. There's a jar of peanut butter and Nutella with your name on it._ "

Before Shane turns away, Annie stands up and she wraps her arms around his torso and buries her face into his chest. Taken aback by this, Shane feels confused as to what to do at first, but then he moves his arms around her.

" _Thank you, Shane. Thank you for going out there to look for my bracelet,_ " she looks up at him. " _Because if you didn't, you wouldn't have found my mom. I wouldn't be able to leave this place because I wouldn't want to leave her. But now we can if we need to because I know where she is now. She's… She's dead._ "

Annie takes a deep breath and then she steps away from Shane. She rubs her eye and she reaches down to pick the bracelet up off the floor. Together, they head downstairs to the kitchen to get something to eat.

With red and slightly puffy eyes, Annie smears some Nutella on a slice of bread. She folds it like a taco and then she takes a bite out of it. Shane comes back from the living room and he places Annie's bracelet on the tabletop.

" _When I was heading back to the car, I found it,_ " he pulls his chair out and he sits down. " _And there is something else that I have to tell you._ "

Annie places the piece of bread down on the napkin and she lowers her head, almost expecting it to be more bad news.

" _Your momma, I brought her back with me. I thought we'd give her a proper burial because I didn't wanna just leave her out there._ "

" _You… You brought her here?_ " Annie perks up and she glances at the hallway. " _Can I see her?_ "

She pushes her chair back, but Shane stands before her and he shakes his head.

" _You don't wanna do that, Annie. The state that I found her in… I don't want you to have to see her like that._ "

" _That's not for you to decide,_ " she stands up and then she heads out into the hallway to the back door. Shane sighs, following her outside.

When they're outside, Annie wordlessly glances around to see if she can spot her mother's body without having to ask Shane. She assumes that he won't tell her.

" _Annie, the last time you saw your momma, what did she look like?_ "

Grasshoppers strum their legs in in the tall grass, flies buzz by their ears. The sun glares down at them and there's the faint smell of rotting flesh on the breeze.

" _She'd always have at least two smudges of dirt on her face, no matter how many times she'd try to keep herself clean. One of the only things that she managed to keep clean and beautiful was her hair. She had curly hair, you see, and she'd always complain about how crazy it looked. But I loved it,_ " Annie looks down at the grass. " _Her eyes were green and they twinkled every time she thought of something clever or when she completed a task._ "

A crow flies overhead, crying out its only song, and Shane looks up at it as it stretches its wings. Its black wings look out of place among the white clouds and blue sky, but at the same time, it truly does belong there.

When Shane lowers his head, Annie is facing him and she's closer now.

" _You're right, I don't want to see what happened to her. I want to remember her just the way that she was,_ " she touches Shane's upper arm and then she turns to head back inside.

When both of them are back inside of the house, Shane sits down on the couch in the living room and he sighs, grateful to be out of the sun. Annie sits in the rocking chair near the boarded up window, biting her fingernail.

" _Oh, I almost forgot,_ " Shane reaches under the cushion of the couch and he retrieves Annie's bracelet. He tosses it to her and she clumsily catches it.

She turns her palm over and her fingers uncurl, so that she can look at it. There's a bead that has the letter A on it and there are two red strings that are woven together. When she made it, she felt like it should symbolize her connection with her mother. Now, she doesn't know what it symbolizes. Annie touches her stomach, furrowing her eyebrows.

" _Something wrong?_ "

" _No. Yes, I guess. I'm still feeling sick from drinking last night. It's weird because I didn't even drink that much. So, with that said, excuse me…_ "

Annie gets up to leave the room and she heads upstairs to find the trashcan.

Shane stays on the couch and he bends his knees to place his feet up on the table. He looks at the mantle, staring at a picture of Beth, Maggie and Hershel. He wonders if they made it out alive. He didn't find any remains when he cleaned up the area around the farmhouse. When he thinks about it a little more, he wonders if Lo…

In the distance, an explosion goes off and it's close enough to make the farmhouse rock. Dust falls from the ceiling, and Shane is on his feet before the ground stops shaking.

" _Shane! Shane, what was that?_ " Annie leans over the railing with large eyes.

" _I don't know, I don't know! Are you alright?_ "

Shane braces his hand on the mantle and then another explosion goes off.

It's not followed by silence this time. Men are shouting, there's gunfire and there's the revving of engines. Reluctantly, Shane moves to look out the boarded up window and he can see two trucks heading towards the house. He runs into the kitchen.

" _Annie, grab whatever you can! People are attacking the house, so we best be gone by the time they reach us!_ "

Upstairs, Annie runs back into the room and she grabs a large duffel bag to fill it with medicine from the bathroom, toiletries, clothes and other supplies. After she collects as much as she can, she runs downstairs to find Shane. He's packing the backpacks with canned food, bottles of water and cutlery, mostly knives.

" _Shane, what's going on? Who's attacking us?_ " she tries to look out the window above the sink.

" _I don't know, but they'll be here any minute. I think they're holding off because they don't know how many of us are in here or if we're armed. Either way, we can't stay here anymore. It's not safe,_ " he jams the last can of food into his backpack.

Outside, there's a spray of dirt that hits the front door and the rumbling of the engines stops. Four doors open and close, and there's the shuffling of feet.

Shane quietly moves Annie away from the kitchen window.

" _I'm gonna need you to take this and hide. Whatever you hear, I don't want you to come out, even if they threaten my life. I want you to stay wherever you are and when they leave, if they do, get out and get out fast. Head for the woods, not the road. They won't be able to follow you, nor will they wanna risk their lives to follow you._ "

" _But Shane…_ "

" _No, stop. I need you to listen to me. I know you wanna be an adult and help me, but I promised your momma that I'd keep you safe, so that's exactly what I'm gonna do._ "

Annie looks into his eyes and she lowers her gaze to the gun. She takes it and then both of them look towards the front door when one of the men kick it with his boot.

" _Alright, I'll hide. Just… Just stay safe, okay? I already lost my mother. I don't want to… I don't want to lose you, too._ "

She quickly turns and goes to find a place to hide.

Shane watches her leave, and he turns to step into the kitchen. The sunlight is momentarily blocked out when a man passes the window, and Shane quietly moves into the living room and he stands beside the front door.

A board of wood clatters on the floor as the door begins to give way, and Shane presses the front sight of firearm against the peephole.

And then he pulls the trigger.

The bullet flies through the door and it strikes its target in the head. One of the men falls to the ground and the others step back, raising their weapons in defense and fear.

" _Get back, get back! Someone is in there!_ "

" _Remember, these are the people that kidnapped Randall! Fuck it, just open fire!_ "

Bullets fly through the living room wall and Shane ducks behind the couch to take cover.

As wood from the wall splinters and dust rains down, little figurines are shot off the mantle, Shane clutches his gun as he thinks about the name that was mentioned.

" _Randall,_ " he shakes his head and he fires back at the men.

Suddenly, all fire ceases and Shane wiggles forward to look at the door. The wall looks like Swiss cheese, sunlight shining through the bullet-holes.

The hinges of the door creak and then it collapses on the floor. The men can't be seen, but what can be seen next makes Shane widen his eyes.

A grenade rolls into the room and Shane scrambles to his feet, attempting to make a run for it.

The grenade goes off and it sends him flying into a bookshelf in the next room. He slowly raises his head, his vision blurry as boots can be seen heading down the hallway to him and then he passes out.

" _Hey, wake up,_ " faintly, Shane can hear a voice speaking to him. " _I said wake up!_ "

The words are followed by a strike the face and Shane is nearly knocked out of the chair he's tied to. He's definitely awake now.

Blood drips from his nose and he blinks his eyes, trying to bear the pain. His nose is still tender from the New Zealand greeting he gave the tree the night of the fire.

He spits blood out of his mouth and he looks up at the man standing in front of him.

" _I'm awake._ "

The other two men are looking around the room, one of them knocking books off the shelf, the other looking out the window at the woods. Shane shoots a quick glance at the staircase, hoping that Annie will continue to stay hidden.

" _Do you know why we're here?_ "

" _Yeah. Yeah, I do._ "

Shane grips the ropes that bind his wrists and hands, and they don't give him any room to free himself. He looks at the two men and then he nods his head.

" _We brought Randall here, but that's only because you and your men abandoned him,_ " Shane lies again. " _And as you can see, he ain't here. He ran off with the others. You and your pals should go and look for him._ "

The three men look at each other, and the man in front of Shane pulls out a knife from his back pocket. He walks over to the desk and he rests his backside on it.

" _You'd like that, wouldn't you?_ " he speaks as he uses the tip of the knife to clean the dirt out from under his fingernails. " _We were here on the night of the fire._ _To be more specific, we were here a few hours before the fire started, and we saw you._ "

The man looks up from his grooming, and Shane stares back at him. There's a look of dread on his face, queasy realization.

" _Ron was hiding in the woods, waiting for one of your people to come through and we were going to take one of them, ask for a trade. But he said that he saw you go into the woods with Randall, and he said that you were the only one to come back out._ "

He leans away from the desk and he tucks his knife back into its sheath.

" _You and I both know what kind of person Randall was. He was weak, both physically and mentally. Ron told me that he 'broke' your nose and ran off, but we know that's not what happened. It couldn't have happened. Randall wasn't the type, which is why he was left behind._ " he squints his eyes as he whispers. " _So, what really happened to Randall?_ "

Shane becomes pale and he slightly rocks back and forth in the chair. He knows that Annie is still in the house somewhere, hiding, and he knows that she can probably hear all of this. She will hear all of this. Shane stomps his foot on the floor, knowing that he needs to be honest, so he tells them everything.

He tells him about the family that lived here and what he did to Otis, what he did for Carl and Lori. He tells them about how he tried to kill Rick, and he tells them about what he did to Randall. Silenced by shame and his impending doom and his judgement, Shane lowers his head.

Hiding in the hallway closet upstairs, Annie has her hand over her mouth. She did hear everything, and she doesn't know what to think or do. She can feel a breeze blow through the bottom of the closet door and she knows that there's a window open somewhere.

Annie holds the gun to her chest, thinking it over.

" _Just get it over with, man. Just don't…_ " Shane lifts his face. " _Just don't hurt the girl._ "

" _What girl?_ "

The three men glance at each other, confused and alerted. At the top of the staircase, Annie is aiming her firearm at the man standing in front of Shane.

" _This girl,_ " she closes one eye and then she fires.

Blood splatters on Shane's face and the man in front of him collapses on the floor. The other two men reach for their weapons, but Annie opens fire at them. She shoots one in eye, killing him instantly, and the other in the shoulder. He drops his gun and then he falls on the floor with his hand over his shoulder.

Annie runs downstairs and she points her firearm at the man with a trembling hand. With a slight amount of pressure, she pulls the trigger and then man falls still. The gun falls from her hand and she backs up when she realizes what she's done. She takes a deep breath before she turns to cut Shane free from the chair.

Once Shane is free, he immediately turns to gather Annie into his arms. He straightens up as he hugs her, which causes her feet to hover nine inches off the floor. Once he sets Annie back down on her feet, he touches her shoulders and he levels his gaze with hers.

" _I'm sorry that I wasn't honest about what I did, but I wasn't ready to talk about it and frankly, I was afraid that if I told you, you'd run off because you'd think that I was unhinged._ "

" _No, I get it. To be honest, I did consider leaving, but I couldn't._ "

He doesn't ask why because he knows. She's all he has left and he's all she has left.

Annie tucks a lock of her hair behind her ear and she looks at the blood that's surrounding their feet. Shane looks around at the fallen bodies, and he walks over to the one closest to him to search his pockets.

" _I'm sorry you had to do this. Was this your…_ " he hates even having to ask this. " _Was this your first time killing someone?_ "

He puts a few bullets into his back pocket and he rubs his left wrist, attempting to soothe the friction that the rope caused. Annie walks over to the man that she shot in the eye and she nudges his side with the tip of her boot.

" _No, I've had to kill people before. My mom could never pull the trigger, so I had to in order to keep us safe._ "

Shane sighs as he straightens up and he looks through the cracks of the boards of wood that cover the window to the backyard. His eyes slowly widen.

" _Annie,_ " he reaches for her and she comes over to look out the window with him.

Several yards away, a small horde of walkers is making their way to the house.

" _Shit, they must have heard the gunshots._ "

They whip around when they hear a groaning sound coming down the hallway. With the front door gone, the walkers are going to be flooding the house in minutes.

" _Shane, we need to leave!_ "

He raises his gun at the first walker to step into the house and he puts a bullet in his head.

" _Get upstairs to that open window, Annie. Now!_ " he commands her as another walker wanders into the house.

Annie runs upstairs and she goes into the bedroom to gather as much things as she can. She stuffs it into a small backpack and she straddles the open window as she listens to the gunshots. She's about to call out for Shane, but he comes running upstairs with two of the prepacked backpacks.

" _There's more coming our way! We won't be able to keep them from coming in the front and keep the others from coming in the back, so we leave or we die! Come on,_ " he helps her out the window and he follows her.

Shane carefully jumps down first, still minding his leg, and he holds his hands up to catch her backpack first. Annie drops it down to him and once it's on his shoulder, she falls into his arms. He sets her on her feet and both of them unsheathed their knives.

" _Follow me to the back. We need to get to the car,_ " he lunges forward, stabbing a walker in its head.

Carefully, the duo moves to the back of the house and the dead ones fall around their feet as they're knifed in the head. They get into the car and the doors are locked out of habit. Shane fumbles with the key and he looks at Annie before he attempts to start the engine.

To their relief, the car starts and Shane stomps on the gas to run-over the walkers that are in his way. The ground is smooth until they reach the dirt road and they drive slow once they reach the highway.

" _Shane, where are we going to go?_ "

He glances in the rear-view mirror to see the walkers swarming Hershel's land like they did before and then he keeps his eyes on the road in front of them.

" _I don't know, Annie. I don't know._ "


End file.
